The present invention lies in the field of load carrying dollies and is directed to such a dolly which is provided with means for guiding a receptacle such as a garbage can to a generally central location on the base of the dolly and retaining it against lateral displacement to prevent tipping of the dolly and to prevent the receptacle from sliding off of the dolly base platform. It is further directed to the provision of casters which essentially cannot be disconnected from the base as a result of rough handling.
Conventional dollies for this purpose ordinarily consist of a simple base in the form of a generally rectangular board, crossed individual boards, or a piece of plywood from one half to one inch thick provided with three or more wheels or casters for mobility. Nothing is provided to initially locate the container on the base and nothing is provided to prevent it from sliding toward a margin of the base when the user pushes against the side of the container to cause the dolly to move in some desired direction. As the receptacle or container moves to the margin and possibly into an overhanging position the balance becomes precarious and the receptacle will readily slip off of the dolly base and/or tip and overturn if any substantial obstacle is encountered.
Platform type casters are usually applied to the under side of the base, such casters having a plate or platform which is placed against the base and secured to the base with a plurality of screws or bolts and nuts. While such casters are quite satisfactory, they are expensive and time consuming to mount since it is necessary to drill four holes in the base for each caster and to secure four screws or bolts in the holes.
Post type casters reduce the cost and effort required to install compared to platform type casters. It is necessary to drill only one hole in the base to mount such caster. The socket is driven into the hole and the post carrying the caster is pushed into the socket. The latter is usually formed with one or more slits in its upper portion and bent or crimped to form a taper. The post is provided with a flare or head at its upper end which is larger than the inside diameter of the upper end of the socket. As it is forced fully into place, the head spreads the end of the socket and snaps through, with the upper end of the socket closing again around the shank, and the post cannot readily be withdrawn. In the past, post casters have not been found practical in planar dolly base application. A post caster socket is designed to be inserted into an enclosed hole in a solid member since otherwise, if the top of the socket is exposed, it tends to enlarge with rough use, thereby allowing the post with caster to drop out of the socket. In this application, the socket is considerably longer than the thickness of the base and its upper portion extends above the top of the base and has no lateral support. Although the material is resilient enough to accommodate the initial assembly operation, it is still ductile enough to be gradually deformed by repeated forceful applications. Hence, as the caster repeatedly strikes obstacles in the course of use, the upper end of the post hammers lateraly at the upper portion of the socket. As a result the upper end of the socket gradually opens up until its inside diameter is larger than the flared head on the caster post, allowing the caster to become disassembled from its socket.